26 June 2011

Sermon: Proper 8 (OT)

Summary: Earlier in the book, the Lord condemned the religious leaders of the day: “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace. (6:14)” Here in chapter 28, He turns full attention to Hananiah for not only proclaiming a false peace but for doing so in the name of the Lord.

The spirit of Hananiah is alive and well. Prophets and dreamers still proclaim peace to eager ears, even though sinful strife continues.

Through Jeremiah, the Lord reminds us that the only lasting peace comes on His terms. This peace, earned by Christ on the cross, comes only to those who trust in Jesus as their Savior. The sign of this peace isn’t the hand gesture popularized in the 1960s ✌. Nor is is the stylized footprint of a dove ☮. Instead, it’s a much more ancient gesture, the sign of the cross ✠ written upon us in Holy Baptism and repeated throughout the Christian life. For only one Prophet, Jesus Christ, can proclaim the true “peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. (Philippians 4:7)”

Text:Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord, and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles.

“Yet hear now this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.

“As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes to pass, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”Jeremiah 28:5-9